Back on Sensui Mountain, Shizuku had casually mentioned that Blinky could suck up poison. Pyon had put two and two together fast: if the girl had a vacuum cleaner that could store things indefinitely, odds were good the Buddha statue Liam had photographed was sitting inside that weird Nen beast right now.
"National treasure?"
In the hospital ward, Liam, Shizuku, and Kurapika all turned to look at Pyon, who'd just closed the door behind her. Anyone confident enough to walk around in public wearing rabbit-ear headbands clearly didn't give a damn about looking ridiculous.
Pyon pulled out her phone, fingers flying across the screen. "The official designation from Kakin is 'National Special Cultural Relic of the Kakin Kingdom: The Twenty-Nine Statues of Gods.' Your Buddha is one of them."
She turned the phone screen toward them.
On the display was an image, clearly hand-drawn rather than photographed.
Inside a glass display case sat a stone statue about one meter tall.
Six wings spread from its back. Battle armor covered its torso. A long sword gripped in its hands. Its gaze held an inviolable authority, like an angel descending to punish the world with divine judgment.
Most importantly, the face of this six-winged seraph statue was identical to the multi-armed Buddha statue Shizuku had taken from the temple.
It was also made from the same black jade-like material. This one, however, was obviously better preserved. The surface was smooth, without a single crack.
From the hospital bed, Kurapika spoke up suddenly. "That's not a photograph."
Even from several meters away, without using Gyo to enhance his vision, he could tell the difference.
"Of course it's not a photo," Pyon said. "Kakin's national special cultural relics are only displayed occasionally in their national museum, and any form of recording, including photography, is absolutely forbidden. A few years ago, my friend and I visited once. When I got back, I drew some sketches as souvenirs."
Liam couldn't help asking, "If you've seen stone statues with identical faces before, why did it take you so long to react when I texted you?"
"First, the photos you sent weren't clear enough. Second, the statue you photographed was covered in cracks. Third, I'm not intimately familiar with that face. My main job is translating and interpreting ancient documents. I'm only tangentially involved with architecture and sculpture. Why would I react immediately?"
"Fair point." Liam nodded, then asked, "You're a member of the Hunter Association's Twelve Zodiacs. Can't you just ignore their no-photography rule?"
Pyon's expression remained calm. "In the Hunter Association, star ratings and positions are more about honor and responsibility than actual authority. A Zodiac's Hunter License has the exact same privileges as any ordinary member's license. Basically, all the privileges that can be given are given equally."
She paused. "A Hunter License grants access to 90% of normally restricted countries and 75% of various prohibited zones worldwide. Unfortunately, the Kakin Kingdom falls into the other 10% and 25%."
"Kakin's huge on the map," Liam said. "It takes up more than half of the Azian Continent. How is it only 10%?"
"The statistics are based on number of countries, not land area." Pyon adjusted her rabbit-ear headband. "Besides, not all of Kakin rejects the Hunter Association. Most of their public facilities still honor Hunter Licenses. Only certain restricted Kakin territories and building facilities require direct approval from the Kakin King himself."
So Kakin would give V5 face on the surface, but in some areas, even V5's influence didn't mean much.
Generally speaking, a Hunter License's privileges were backed by the world's five most powerful nations, the V5 alliance. Not honoring a Hunter License meant not giving face to V5. Small countries couldn't afford that kind of disrespect. But with Kakin's size and strength, they were qualified to show contempt for V5.
"So this national special whatever, the twenty-nine statues, is part of that 25% forbidden zone."
"Since they're called the twenty-nine statues," Liam asked, "I'm guessing there are twenty-nine total?"
The Great Elder of the Black Mist Lions had mentioned that Wangu Hui Guo Rou carved many stone statues on the seashore.
Liam had assumed most of those sculptures were abandoned. He hadn't expected the king to leave only one Buddha statue in the Kamavor Mountains while hauling the rest back to Kakin.
Kakin was about as far from Kamavor as you could get. Did King Wangu Hui Guo Rou really carve statues at one end of the world, then drag a whole cartload of them back to the other end?
The Buddha statue left in Kamavor had contained divine script in its head. It had possessed spirituality, meaning King Wangu Hui Guo Rou had imbued it with Nen ability.
What about the rest of the statues?
Did they have the same teleportation ability, or different functions?
What was True Martial King Wangu Hui Guo Rou's purpose in creating these statues?
Pyon put away her phone. "Twenty-nine, thirty-three, thirty-six, forty-nine, seventy-two... There's been considerable controversy in academic circles about exactly how many national treasure statues exist in the Kakin Kingdom. At first, the Kakin Empire maintained an ambiguous stance, seemingly trying to obscure the specific number. It wasn't until about twenty years ago that the Kakin Kingdom officially announced the total was twenty-nine, and since then they've held irregular exhibition displays in their capital museum."
Shizuku asked curiously, "The Buddha statue we found isn't one of the twenty-nine, right?"
"If it really is a Kakin national treasure," Pyon nodded, looking between Liam and Shizuku, "then yes, it's not one of them. Among the twenty-nine statues displayed at the Kakin National Museum, there are gods, angels, saints, and even demons. But I'm absolutely certain there are no Buddha or Bodhisattva statues. The absence of Buddhist imagery is why, until now, everyone remains skeptical about the total number being twenty-nine."
Only the Buddha statue wasn't brought back to Kakin?
Was the Buddha left outside to save all sentient beings or something?
Liam asked, "Last question. When you saw the statues at the Kakin National Museum, could you sense Nen in them?"
Pyon looked at him. "No."
"Then I have reason to suspect the statues on display were all high-quality fakes made by Kakin." Liam smiled. "At least the one we have actually had spirituality."
"Used to have," Shizuku corrected.
The Buddha statue was damaged and covered in cracks. It had lost its spirituality. No trace of Nen remained in it now.
Pyon looked thoughtful, then said, "Can you let me examine your Buddha statue now?"
"Here?" Liam asked.
"Of course we need to find somewhere safer." Pyon pulled out her phone, apparently checking a map. "Let's go. Follow me."
Liam and Shizuku started to leave, then suddenly remembered Kurapika.
Looking back, Kurapika had already gotten out of bed and put on a coat. His face was still pale, but he said firmly, "I want to see it too."
"Need a wheelchair?" Liam asked.
Kurapika's eyes narrowed. "No. Actually, I'm almost ready to be discharged."
The four of them left the hospital quickly. On the way, Liam gave Pyon a condensed version of how they'd found the Buddha statue in the Kamavor Mountains, focusing on the Great Elder's memories of King Wangu Hui Guo Rou.
However, Liam omitted the detail that this was the old lion's personal experience. The Great Elder's longevity inevitably involved Nitro Rice, after all.
For now, that pile of rice could only sit in Shizuku's Blinky as a curiosity. But it was still a longevity treasure that might extend life. Liam wasn't selfless enough to share it with everyone he met.
In the past, he'd explained things to Essi and been willing to split things equally. But that was because Essi had participated in the mission. One thing at a time.
Naturally, Liam also didn't mention anything involving his Nen abilities, like the Star Mark.
In another city in the Mimbo Republic, known among locals as the so-called "gang capital."
It earned that elegant nickname because this city hosted the largest concentration of mafia forces on the continent, especially the organization headquartered here, which was led by one of the Ten Dons standing at the peak of the world's underground criminal empire.
In a room, Purple Ape-Liam opened his eyes and found himself lying in bed.
Not alone, either.
He turned his head to see a large white woman sleeping soundly beside him.
How scandalous.
Purple Ape slipped out of bed and got dressed. His movements were so quick and silent that the person on the bed didn't notice at all.
After checking his face in the mirror, he confirmed it was the Shadow Beast who'd lost his position at Heavens Arena.
During the many days Kurapika had been hospitalized, Liam's routine had included daily training, caring for Kurapika, shopping with Shizuku, and occasionally logging into this Shadow Beast's account to poke around.
Walking to the desk, he skillfully pulled out a drawer and found a notebook.
"...What a shame and humiliation to lose to a young boy! I will remember this day, this failure, this disgrace. I will become stronger. Sooner or later, I will make that boy pay the price."
A diary.
The crucial thing was that Liam himself had written that paragraph when he'd possessed Purple Ape.
That was during his first login to this account. He'd discovered that Purple Ape's gang colleagues had mentioned Purple Ape casually asking them questions yesterday when Liam hadn't been possessing him.
Purple Ape had realized something was wrong.
But just as Liam expected, Purple Ape hadn't made any announcement or even pointed it out to others before causing negative consequences. He suspected that at certain points, he was experiencing "fragmentation" and "memory loss," like sleepwalking.
"Sometimes, I may not be myself." Purple Ape would never say this to others unless absolutely necessary.
Purple Ape continued reading the diary.
"October 29th. Today in XX City, I keep feeling something's not right. I suspect I'm having blackouts. But I don't dare ask other people. As a gangster and member of the Shadow Beasts, I absolutely cannot have this kind of problem. But... I think it's real. Damn it."
Liam had written that too.
"November 1st. The other me, I think we need to talk." This was when Liam had been pleased to see Purple Ape finally willing to "communicate," which meant the "condition" was stabilizing.
"November 2nd. Who are you? I am me! You are the other me! Who are you?"
"Am I not having blackouts, but... split personality?"
"November 10th. Which incident caused this problem... the time in XX city? XX city? Did I develop the problem myself, or is someone plotting against me? Could it be someone inside the organization? They know I lost the match at Heavens Arena. They want to harm me? They want to squeeze me out of my Shadow Beast position?!"
Liam recalled the approximate locations where Purple Ape had sensed his presence and written a few confusing sentences to muddy the waters. Then he closed the notebook and went for a walk.
As a Shadow Beast, Purple Ape obviously held high status in this mafia family. Most people in black suits on the road either stepped aside respectfully or greeted him politely when they saw him.
"Zourlo, you free? Just wandering around?" A man not wearing a black suit approached with a cigarette in his mouth.
Not wearing the family uniform suggested he had considerable status too.
Liam had never seen this guy before, so he didn't bother engaging beyond raising his chin in acknowledgment.
The other party grunted. "The young master asked me to inform you not to cause any trouble lately. There might be a meeting in a few days and he wants you to come along."
Liam didn't know how to respond, so he simply adopted a cold expression, glanced at the man, and walked away.
The other party muttered something behind him, voice unhappy. "Running back in disgrace after losing at Heavens Arena, and he still gets to keep being a Shadow Beast. This is not fair..."
Purple Ape walked around twice more but didn't encounter anything interesting. Feeling bored, he returned to the room, sat at the desk, and left a line in the diary:
"November 13th. Whatever meeting the young master mentioned in a few days is very important. My other self must not mess this up! I don't have the specific time yet. If I find out later, I'll write it down. If anything goes wrong during the meeting, we're both doomed!"
After closing the diary with satisfaction, Liam glanced in the mirror, opened his mouth, and spotted a barely visible rose-gold pentagram mark on the inner wall of his cheek.
"What are you doing? Are you spacing out?" Pyon's irritated voice sounded in his ear.
Purple Ape went back to bed and lay down, pretending nothing had happened.
"What are you doing? Are you spacing out?"
Pyon grabbed the back of Liam's neck as he kept walking forward, pointing to a building entrance on the roadside. "We're already here."
Kurapika gave Liam a strange look.
Liam coughed lightly and looked up at where Pyon had led them. "Eternal Library?"
He knew this chain well.
Eternal Libraries existed in many cities, like Barnes & Noble in his previous life. He often took Shizuku to bookstores, usually to the local Eternal Library branch. It seemed to be one of the largest book retailers in the Hunter world.
I'm fine, I was just checking on that gangster Shadow Beast, Liam sent through the Moon Mark, rubbing the ring on his finger.
Oh. Shizuku nodded, took Liam's hand, and followed him into the library.
The library had its own distinctive atmosphere. Bookshelves stood like walls, arranged in vertical and horizontal rows, displaying a dizzying variety of books. The Eternal Library's most notable feature was its extensive collection of ancient texts and historical documents, making it popular among history buffs, cultural enthusiasts, and scholars of niche fields.
Pyon led them straight to the basement.
Liam couldn't help asking, "Are we allowed down here? Do you need a Hunter License, or do you know the staff?"
"Neither," Pyon said.
She raised her phone, tapped something on the screen, then pushed open the door to a basement room. "The Eternal Library is property registered in my name."
The four of them entered. As the door slowly closed behind them, Pyon's voice inside said, "Okay, it's safe here. Take your things out and let me see..."
Then stopped abruptly.
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